Loki Laufeyson is an Asgardian prince, the God of Mischief and usurper of the Asgardian throne. A misshapen Frost Giant, he is the adopted brother and nemesis of Thor, the adopted son of Odin and Frigga, and the biological son of the Frost Giant Laufey and an enemy of The Avengers.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Loki was the son of Laufey, but was abandoned as an infant and 'rescued' by Odin, with the intention of using him as a bargaining chip to maintain peace with the Jotuns - but these plans met a moot point almost immediately. Adopted by Odin and Frigga at the end of the Asgardians' war with the Jotuns, Loki is treated as a prince of Asgard and was never informed of his true heritage throughout his youth - however, Odin secretly intended for him never to sit on the throne of Asgard because of his Jotun heritage. Loki is smaller and thinner, and has a darker hair colour while paler in complexion than the Asgardians. Throughout their childhood Loki spent much of his time trying to prove himself as Thor's equal, while studying magical arts rather than physical prowess.

Admittedly jealous of his step-brother, Thor, and anxious about a kingdom ruled by the loud and violent God of Thunder, Loki allows several Jotuns to enter Asgard, who then proceed to try and steal the Casket of Ancient Winters during Thor's coronation. Later Loki admits that it was 'just a bit of fun' meant to ruin his brother's special day and to keep Asgard from his reign for a short while longer. In the wake of this intrusion, Thor is eager to launch a counterattack, and Loki appears to attempt to dissuade him while possibly actually goading him into action. On leaving, Loki leaves word with a guard to inform Odin of their departure, although whether this is through concern for their safety or desire to make Thor lose favor with Odin is unclear.

Once in Jotunheim, Thor leads himself and his friends into conflict and attacks the Jotuns even after being granted safe passage home. During the ensuing fight, Loki uses his abilities to save his brother and friends in several instances, including creating false versions of himself and hurling magic daggers at the Jotuns. He is then attacked by another that siezes him by the wrist. Loki is surprised by his own resistance to the Jotuns' freezing touch and sees his flesh turn Jotun blue and then return to Asgardian colour, a revelation that sews doubt about his origins in his mind. Odin arrives and takes the group back after Laufey promises that Thor will have the war and death he desired. Thor and Odin exchange heated words and insults until Odin, saddened by his son's arrogance and lack of wisdom, decides to punish him. Loki tries to intercede on his brother's behalf but is given a stern reprimand by Odin, prompting him to withdraw and be silent. Odin banishes Thor to Midgard (Earth) while Loki watches in horror; Odin also sends Mjölnir, enchanting it to only allow a worthy person to lift it and acquire the 'Power of Thor'.

Loki and the other warriors go to the healing room to treat their wounds. Loki still wonders about the changing of his flesh on Jotunheim and decides to see if he can induce it using the Casket of Ancient Winters. While he lifts it, visually repeating to himself that 'this cannot be, this is impossible', his skin up to his hairline turns Jotun blue and his eyes turn Jotun red. He is interrupted by Odin and confronts him regarding the incident. He learns that Odin discovered him as an infant left to die in the temple of the Jotuns during the final battle of the ancient war. On Loki's heated insistence, Odin also reveals that his purpose in rescuing him was not solely out of compassion, but also in the hopes that peace could be brought permanently through Loki, although he states that those plans no longer matter. Infuriated that he had been lied to and had been taunted with the promise of a possible birthright, Loki shouts hatefully at Odin and, overwhelmed by the stress of his family falling apart coupled with the impending war with Jotunheim, Odin falls into the deep "Odinsleep" in front of him. With Thor already banished to Earth for the attack on Jotunheim, Loki is offered the position of king by his mother and assumes the role of Asgard's regent. From his position of power he goes briefly to Midgard to lie to Thor telling him their father has died and that their mother forbids his return, as well as trying unsuccessfully to take Mjölnir for himself. He then visits Jotunheim under the guise of trying to repair the damage his brother has done, but instead offers Laufey a chance to slay Odin while he sleeps, promising to return the Casket to him in return, which Laufey accepts.

When Sif and The Warriors Three disobey Loki's command to wait for his word by going to Midgard to retrieve Thor, he confronts and freezes Heimdall for allowing them to leave. He then sends The Destroyer after them to eliminate everything in its path and ensure that Thor cannot return home. This action proves his undoing when Thor's courage in confronting the automaton paves the way for his return, and just as Loki betrays and kills Laufey in Odin's chamber, Thor arrives to challenge him over his actions. The resulting fight quickly moves to Heimdall's Observatory where Loki has connected the Bifrost to Jotunheim, threatening to destroy it. Thor's power ultimately overpowers Loki's cunning, at the cost of the observatory and the Bifrost.

As Loki falls into the abyss below, the spear in his hand was grabbed by Thor who in turn was anchored to the remnants of the bridge by the newly-awakened Odin. He appeals to his stepfather that by annihilating the Jotuns he was doing what was best for Asgard. Odin sadly rejects this, and with his Asgardian life now in tatters, Loki releases the spear and allows the wormhole created by the Bifrost's energy to claim him.

The trickster is not so easily felled however, and sometime later an apparition of himself appears on Earth, where he begins to influence Erik Selvig, who has been summoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. to turn his scientific knowledge to the task of unlocking the secrets of a mysterious blue-glowing cube, which would supposedly be the key to unlimited sustainable energy for Earth. Loki's apparition whispers words of encouragement to proceed.

As Loki struck a deal with Thanos and The Other which involved him going to Earth to take the Tesseract, his mother discovered he was alive and tried to speak to him, but Loki told her it wasn't a good time to talk.

Fury's Big Week

Loki, unseen to everyone and possessing Erik Selvig's body, is introduced by Nick Fury to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.' underground base. In here, he meets Clint Barton, who will be Selvig's bodyguard and guardian. Loki recognizes him, and, after asking if he was part of the team in New Mexico, he remarks that he has quite a good memory for faces.

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation! The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled! In the end, you will always kneel."

After falling through the wormhole, Loki arrived in a part of the universe unknown to both the Asgardians and humans and came into contact with The Other, a servant of Thanos, who offered a pact that would allow him to become ruler of the Earth while Thanos and the Chitauri would take the Tesseract, the cosmic cube left on Earth being studied by S.H.I.E.L.D. Thanos gave him ancient knowledge through the powers of the Tesseract, providing him with a golden bladed staff with a blue gem that was powered by the cube itself. It acted as a very powerful weapon, and also as a mind control device, bending those who were touched by the gem's power to its will.

After accepting the deal, Loki turned his focus back to Earth in search of a suitable agent, someone close to the Tesseract. He found Erik Selvig, a friend of Thor's and a renowned astrophysicist, who had been summoned to the task of unlocking the secrets of the mysterious cube. In time, Selvig came to understand some of the Tesseract's capabilities, and through Loki's influence he developed equipment that would focus some of that power. When the time was right, Loki activated the Tesseract, forming a temporary portal that pulled him through to its location on Earth. He was immediately confronted by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who fired guns at him only to learn that bullets bounced off of his body. Nick Fury attempted to keep him away from the Tesseract after, but Loki managed to use the scepter to subjugate and control Hawkeye and Selvig, as well as a number of other agents by placing the tip of the scepter at their chest near their heart and allowing the power of the gem to overtake them. He explained to Nick Fury that he wanted the Tesseract as part of his 'glorious purpose' which was to free the earth and humanity from 'freedom... life's great lie' as their one supreme king.

Fury tried to flee with the Tesseract, but then decided to stay and allow himself to die with the cube if it meant stopping Loki as well. Selvig and Hawkeye informed Loki of Fury's intent, prompting Loki to gather the turned agents and leave with the Tesseract after attempting to kill Fury, avoiding Maria Hill's attempt to stop them. The energy it had unleashed consumed the area and the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. compound with it. After securing an area to determine the next course of action for the cube, Loki noted the scepter's gem glowing and calling out to him. He allowed himself to enter a trance where he could appear to the Chitauri leader and his army in a metaphysical form. The Chitauri leader warned Loki that if he failed at his pursuit of earth and the Tesseract did not fall into their hands to be given to Thanos, that there would be no place for him to hide from the overlord's wrath and that he would beg for something as sweet as pain. Now unsettled about potential failure and more determined than ever, Loki went to Stuttgart, Germany with Hawkeye and other turned agents in order to retrieve iridium, necessary to stabilize the portal.

Here he disrupted a gala at a large museum while Barton raided a secure installation for iridium. Loki struck terror into the hearts of patrons and guests by securing the one thing needed for Hawkeye to breach the iridium lock's security measures: the curator's eyeball. Loki strode out after the screaming crowd into the streets where he made several copies of himself, trapping the people and demanding that they kneel before him. Loki bragged that this was man's purpose, but a single man challenged him and his intentions. When Loki prepared to kill the old man, Captain America appeared and challenged him. Seconds later, the Quinjet carrying Black Widow also challenged him from the sky. After a brief battle with the super-soldier, during which Loki had the upper hand, Iron Man arrived, blasted him with his repulsors, and threatened to fire the entirety of his arsenal upon Loki, daring him to make a move. Outnumbered, he allowed himself to be captured, secretly plotting to use this to his advantage. As they journeyed to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Thor arrived and extracted Loki from the jet.

Thor attempted to reason with Loki, imploring him to remember that they were brothers (even if not by blood) and to return home to Asgard and surrender the Tesseract. Loki, however, still resented his brother, and refused to cooperate. Thor was tackled by Iron Man before he could say any more, and Loki remained on his perch as he watched them battle before agreeing to ally themselves. They took him into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody aboard the helicarrier, where he was placed in a confinement capsule designed to hold the Hulk. Loki taunted Fury about his attempts to control the Tesseract and his gathering of misfits to defend Earth. Loki's mere presence was enough to provide a disruptive element that would fragment the only group of heroes that had any hope of stopping him. When Black Widow arrived to speak with him, apparently to offer a deal in exchange for Hawkeye's freedom, he subjected her to a play of wits where he ferreted out her deeper misgivings, but was completely caught off guard when she tricked him into revealing that there was already a monster among them and that it was not him. From this, she concluded that the monster was Banner and that he had planned to use the Hulk to destroy the ship and the heroes as well.

However, Loki's plan to use the Hulk, only one aspect of his real intentions, did follow through as another jet carrying Hawkeye and the rogue agents came to his aide, following a signal from the scepter. The wounded Banner transformed into the Hulk, destroying much of the helicarrier, while one of Loki's controlled agents freed him from the cell. Loki then used illusions of himself to trick Thor into entering the cell and to distract Agent Coulson. Loki mortally wounded Agent Coulson and ejected Thor's cell from the helicarrier. Though he retrieved his scepter, Hawkeye was released from the mind control, and Loki headed to New York, where Selvig waited with the Tesseract at Stark Tower.

Loki prepared to welcome his army and begin his glorious, but brief, war on the earth. Tony Stark, still alive after the raid and having figured out his plan, caught up with him at the Tower and abandoned his wrecked Iron Man suit to threaten him. When Loki grew weary of the threats he tried to subjugate Stark with the scepter, only to be physically blocked by the arc reactor in Stark's chest. Annoyed, he threw the inventor out of a window, and was surprised when a freshly built Iron Man armor rocketed out after the man. Loki found himself briefly under attack when the fully suited Iron Man rocketed back up to retaliate before the Tesseract opened the portal, allowing Loki's Chitauri army to come pouring through. With his triumph near at hand he was confronted by his brother, Thor, who demanded that he at once deactivate the Tesseract or the thunder god would destroy it. Loki refused, claiming that nothing could stop his war.

The brothers fought a second time, Loki's scepter matching Thor's hammer. Blasts from the gem almost completely destroyed the Stark Tower logo on the side of the balcony, blasting the giant letters and debris off the side. When the confrontation came to stalemate with them grappling each others' necks, Thor urged Loki to look around him at the destruction he caused and asked if he truly believed it would all end with his rule. While Loki was unsure of himself, his eyes reverted to their normal green state temporarily as he claimed it was too late to stop the madness, but briefly considered Thor's appeal to work together to end it all and redeem himself. The will of the Tesseract over his mind was stronger than his guilt, however, and he instead stabbed Thor with a throwing knife, preparing to strike him down with the scepter as he knelt before him and laughing in amusement at the sentiment. This did little more than enrage the thunder god, who disarmed his adoptive brother of his staff and picked him up before slamming him down hard on the ruined balcony.

Loki threw himself off the building as he was defeated and managed to land on one of the Chitauri's small flying craft. From there, he led an attack on the city. When the first of the Chitauri's massive Leviathans was detroyed by the Hulk, he commanded the Chitauri on the other side of the still-open portal to send the rest of their massive armada, overwhelming the city's defenses. An aerial chase after Black Widow left his craft destroyed by one of Hawkeye's arrows and Loki landed back on Stark Tower, where the Hulk confronted him. Loki's frustrated rant goaded the Hulk into simply picking him up and repeatedly slamming him into the ground. Loki was too stunned to fight or threaten any longer, more wounded physically than he had ever been before.

When he eventually summoned the strength to crawl, he found himself face to face with six of the Earth's mightiest, having defeated the Chitauri army and closing the portal, he quietly requested the drink that Stark had offered before. After the Tesseract was relinquished to Thor, Loki was bound and placed in a metal muzzle (likely to prevent pleading, threatening, or perhaps use of magic) and led to an open area in Central Park with his brother. From there, Thor used the power of the Tesseract to transport both of them home to Asgard.

Loki is taken back to Asgard as prisoner. Odin tells him that "The boy I knew is dead. What remains is a creature I do not recognize" and the reason Loki is still alive is because Frigga still thinks of Loki as a son. Odin addresses Loki as Loki Laufeyson now.

Loki is brought back to Asgard in chains by Thor and brought before Odin to answer for his crimes. Loki shows no sign of remorse, thinking he committed a benevolent act as a god. Odin thinks otherwise and adds that if it weren't for the compassion of Frigga, Loki would probably be dead. Odin sentences him to spend the rest of his days in the dungeon.

Later, he watches from his cell as Fandral and Volstagg bring in some prisoners, including a disguised Algrim. Frigga, in the form of a hologram, visits him and expresses her concern toward him, though he brushes it off.

Later, when Malekith and Algrim, who turns into a Kursed, attack Asgard, killing Thor's mother, Frigga, even Loki expresses his grief and rage in his cell.

Afterward, Thor asks Loki for help, as he has a plan to defeat Malekith, even though Odin has forbidden it, and Loki knows a way to Malekith's whereabouts. Loki knows that Thor is desperate to come seek help from him, though Thor believes that the man he once called his brother is still in Loki. He agrees to help Thor in using diversion tactics. He tauntingly disguises Thor as Sif, and even briefly disguises himself as Captain America to further push Thor's buttons. With that, Thor cuffs him. When they meet with Jane and Sif, Jane slaps Loki for his attack on New York. Sif also promises to kill Loki if he betrays them.

Thor, Loki, and Jane hop on the crashed dark elf ship. Thor is at first unable to get it started, but once he does, he flies it out of there. The Asgardian warriors chase after them until they hop out of the ship and onto a smaller craft flown by Fandral. As he lets the trio make their way out, Loki is able to transport them out of Asgard.

Thor, Loki, and Jane arrive in Svartalfheim. They arrive before Malekith and his minions. Loki appears to betray Thor by stabbing him and throwing him down a hill. When Thor attempts to summon Mjölnir, Loki cuts off his hand. He throws Jane before the dark elves, claiming his allegiance with them to spite Asgard.

As Malekith absorbs the Aether from Jane, Thor and Loki then reveal their ruse as Loki reveals that the damage done to Thor was in fact an illusion, and Thor shoots lightning at the Aether, supposedly destroying it. However, Malekith is still able to absorb it. He and the dark elves make their way toward their giant vessel as Thor attacks them. Algrim throws one of their vortex weapons in the air, which Loki pushes Jane away from. He is nearly sucked in until Thor pulls him away. Thor fights back against Algrim, but the Kursed beast brutally beats him down. Loki impales Algrim from behind, but Algrim pulls Loki into the blade. Loki decalres, "See you in Hel, monster," as Algrim realizes too late that the blade is attached to his own vortex weapon. Algrim is destroyed, but Loki is dying. Thor vows to tell Odin about Loki's deed, but Loki states "I didn't do it for him." He closes his eyes as his skin returns to its blue Frost Giant form.

After they left, it is revealed that Loki had, in fact, survived, and disguised as a warrior, goes back to Asgard to report to Odin that Loki's body has been found.

After Thor defeats Malekith and stops his plans, he returns to Asgard, where he meets with Odin, who is set to make Thor the new king of Asgard. Thor declines the throne while honoring Loki's sacrifice. He offers Mjölnir to Odin, but he tells him it belongs to him if he be worthy of it. Thor thanks Odin and walks away. With his back turned, the image of Odin disappears to reveal none other than Loki. Now seated in the throne he had long desired, he quietly answers, "No. Thank you."

When Lorelei escapes from Asgard's prisons exploiting the destruction caused by the Dark Elves led by Malekith, Loki, posing as Odin, orders Sif to hunt her down on Midgard/Earth. Despite Lorelei being a dangerous criminal, he orders her to be brought to him alive, something that Sif abides by. What Loki wants to do with Lorelei's abilities to bend any man's will, remains to be seen.

Character traits

"You will all fall before me!"

―Loki to Tony Stark - his slow descent into madness

Unlike his adoptive brother, Loki is not an impulsive man, quite the opposite; thoughtful, manipulating, farseeing, he's the perfect tactician. Loki is mischievous by nature, always eager to prove himself. Being physically weak in comparison to most Asgardians (But still superhumanly strong), he developed a sharp intellect and an acute mind to overcome his handicap among the Asgardians. He's pitiless and obstinate, ready to destroy everything in his path for his goals. Brilliant, cunning and unpredictable to an extreme, he's an incredible foe for a society mostly based on brutish combatants.

In Thor, he was at first passive and subtle, but this was all a brilliant facade that betrayed a deeply sociopathic mind that had developed over centuries. Loki spent his entire life watching Thor grow up as the apple of Odin's eye, wanting only to be his equal in his father's opinion. Then, when Odin callously revealed that he wasn't Thor's brother, or even an Asgardian, and denied the throne out of sheer prejudice and outright indifference, Loki's morality snapped for good. He became a psychopathic and ethically furious young man. He developed intense feelings of confusion and rage, and was baffled when Thor was willing to save the Frost Giants, and Loki even angrily ordered his brother to fight him - as if their personalities had swapped. When Odin disowned him, denying that Loki's actions were for his approval, Loki turned suicidal and let himself fall off the Bifrost Bridge.

By The Avengers, Loki had become more dangerous than ever before. He was more cunning and devious, although he was still deeply conflicted. During his encounters with Thor, he showed that he still cared for his adoptive brother and father, but also still resented them: Odin for lying to him about his heritage and Thor for overshadowing him all his life ("I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness.") He may also have developed delusions of grandeur, which Thor himself referred to as "imagined slights", as he believed that Thor tossed him into the wormhole left by the destruction of the Bifrost, when in truth he allowed himself to fall in after Odin didn't approve of what he had done. Loki appeared to become increasingly misanthropic and sociopathic, stabbing his brother in the chest and then mockingly laughing at his sentiment. He had also become even more ruthless than ever before - willing to massacre millions of innocent lives to make himself as spectacular as Thor. He also became intensely sadistic, shown when he threatened Black Widow that he will make Barton torture her in ways she fears, awaken him to see her dead, and then kill him as well.

In Thor: The Dark World, Loki shows little remorse for invading Earth or the multiple people he killed, even lashing out at his adoptive mother as she talked to him in prison. However, after he indirectly brings about her death, he is deeply saddened and falls into a state of vicious despair. When he teams up with Thor to defeat Malekith, he decides not to betray him, at least in part because of his respect for his mother. However, this didn't stop him from experiencing intense rage towards Thor for failing to save Frigga, or not enabling him to aid in saving her. However, he maintained a lazy, sarcastic wit, as when Thor pointed out that Frigga wouldn't want them to fight, he laughingly remarked 'Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked'. As a master manipulator, however, Loki relies heavily on deception in his fight against Malekith and eventually fakes his own death in order to return to Asgard and take over the throne. He even regarded himself as "Loki of Jotunheim" while deceiving Malekith, suggesting that he had finally accepted his true heritage, as he had repeatedly called himself "Loki of Asgard" in the previous film. Also, he became more than willing to deny his adoptive father, having come to truly despise him rather than simply resenting him.

For all his craftiness, Loki has a tendency to bring about his own undoing. In Thor, he sends the Destroyer to kill his brother, which results in Thor regaining his powers after laying down his life for his friends. In The Avengers, Loki has a hand in unleashing the Hulk upon the Helicarrier and killing Coulson; both incidents come back to haunt him as Coulson's death is what unites the Avengers to go after him and the Hulk ultimately beats him into submission.

Powers and Abilities

Despite being a misfit of the Frost Giants and the Asgardians, Loki is still extremely powerful. Being a misshapen Frost Giant, Loki possesses some of the characteristics of his kind, including resistance to extreme cold and to his brethrens's frost powers. He also possesses superhuman physical abilities, as well as having incredible magical powers of illusion and transfiguration, as well as being surprisingly skilled in combat and a master strategist.

Powers

Superhuman Strength: Loki possesses immense physical strength as a result of his Jotun lineage that is comparable to his Asgardian contemporaries, which he has honed in combat training alongside his brother Thor. He kicked a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent several yards into a wall so hard that it broke his bones and killed him, and threw Tony Stark across a room and through a window with only one arm. To him, humans are very light and can be easily lifted and thrown several feet like dolls. He was able to overpower Captain America with ease - the latter commented afterwards that "he packs a whallop". His strength also extends his ability to leap distances far in excess of human capability. However, his superhuman strength is inferior to that of Thor, Odin or the Hulk, while he could briefly fight Thor with the use of his blades, Odin's spear, and his Scepter, and could even gain the upper hand in a battle with him.

Superhuman Durability: As a Jotun, Loki has an extremely resilient body with a tolerance for physical trauma that's similar to the Asgardians. Of particular note is his pronounced tolerance for cold, which vastly exceeds that of an Asgardian. High caliber bullets will simply bounce off him. Loki has taken multiple blows from Captain America and a blow from Captain America's shield which failed to injure him. He also withstood a full blast from a weapon based on the Destroyer, multiple blasts from Iron Man's repulsors, and a small explosive arrow from Hawkeye, and in each case he got out with only minor damage and was more irritated than hurt.

Accelerated Healing: While he was dazed and badly injured by the Hulk, he was far from dead and managed to recover enough to stand up not long afterwards and only had minor cuts and bruises that healed in hours.

Superhuman Longevity: Loki has the capacity to live for thousands of years like the average Asgardian. Loki was a baby at the end of the last great war between the Asgardians and the Jotuns over a thousand years ago.

Superhuman Dexterity: Loki possesses viciously fast reflexes, enough to catch Hawkeye's arrows in mid-flight, inches away from his face. He also used his speed in his fight against Captain America, during which he easily gained the upper hand, at one point even smashing Cap's shield into the ground with a swing of his sceptre, as it was flying at him when Captain America threw the shield at him. When his plot to destroy the Aether was revealed, he managed to kill all the Dark Elves that surrounded him with nothing more than his dagger and his incredible dexterity.

Sorcery: Loki is a master of magic. He was given his skill in magic by Frigga, who decided to share it with him. With his training, Loki eventually became a highly skilled and formidable sorcerer, with it being his main asset in battle. He can create holographic illusions, using them to make decoys of himself or to disguise himself. His mastery of illusions was such that he could trick Malekith into thinking that he betrayed Thor, and that he could fake his own death while still appearing to have sacrificed himself to destroy Kurse. He can also alter his appearance and attire at will, even to take the form of anyone else or project such a disguise on someone else, as he did to Thor to make him look like Sif. His abilities allow him to influence people with his mind, allowing him to implant thoughts and subtle suggestion to them, as he did to Erik Selvig to make him work on the Tesseract. He can make himself and others unable to be seen or heard, though this ability is not always thought to be caused by illusion, but also by mental influence, as he can still appear in mirrors despite his ability to make others not notice him. He was also able to exert a more potent hypnotic control, making others completely loyal and obedient to him with the Chitauri Scepter, which was later revealed to contain the Mind Stone. Loki demonstrated being able to summon objects out of thin air, as he caused the Casket of Ancient Winters to appear and then disappear into thin air in a warped, swirling blur of motion when he used it to freeze Heimdall, though he has not demonstrated this since. At realizing the death of Frigga, he clenched his fists and telekinetically threw away everything in his Asgardian prison cell and caused small tremor in his cell that flickered all the light in it.

Cold Manipulation: As a Frost Giant, Loki can generate mystic cold, as seen when he froze the lightning in the Bifrost Bridge to jam its functions. However, he has not been shown using this power since. He is also immune to the freeze damage that other Frost Giants cause with their touch, with it instead being enough to reveal his true nature as a Frost Giant.

Abilities

Loki has shown that being a "god" of a different world, he is able to understand and eventually utilize Earth and other alien technology to an excellent degree, such as using the eye device on the scientist and learning to use the control console that controls the cage.

Expert Combatant: Loki, though not seen practising very often, is still devastatingly skilled in armed and unarmed combat. In Thor, he showed surprising skill with a dagger and was capable of killing several Jotuns in battle. Also, as king of Asgard, he wielded Gungnir against his brother Thor in single combat and proved to be shockingly capable of holding his ground against his opponent, though the fight ended in a standstill. After his return in The Avengers, he seemed to have become drastically more dangerous and skilled in combat, capable of systematically killing off a room full of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and even outthinking Hawkeye easily. Later on, Loki quite effortlessly defeated Captain America, who is strong enough to rival Iron Man and Thor in combat. At the climax of the Battle of New York, he finally faced his brother in a duel that was so destructive and so intense that it reduced the penthouse of Stark Tower (And most of the floors beneath) to pieces, but again this fight ended in a standstill and Loki used trickery to defeat his brother. In Thor: the Dark World, Loki still maintained his skills, and was able to viciously kill through a squadron of Dark Elves with nothing but his dagger - this is, to date, the only fight in which he didn't use any of his magical powers.

Master strategist: As the God of Trickery, Loki is a master strategist and a superb tactical thinker in military situations, far exceeding Thor and Odin. He is regarded as a devious and subtle man by his friends, but this vastly underestimates his true capacity. He showed his tactical genius in all three of his films. In Thor he managed to manipulate all of the participants in his plan against each other, or apart from each other, so that he was able to use them to his advantage. He was able to manipulate both Laufey and Odin - both of them being excellent strategists and extremely powerful beings - into his scheme, where he feigned wanting to murder Odin so that he had the chance of driving Laufey from his home and then deceiving him until he saw his chance to murder him and prove his 'loyalty' to Odin. He also brought Thor out of the picture for the majority of the incident, even sending the Destroyer to keep him at bay. However, his plan backfired when Thor returned and upturned his plan. In The Avengers, he was able to manipulate the Avengers against each other, as well as elaborately enable himself to escape from the Hellicarrier in the process, but his plan was damaged when he killed Phil Coulson, which inspired the Avengers against him. Finally, in Thor: the Dark World, he feigned being a broken, defeated prisoner to Thor and proved to be exponentially more cunning and unpredictable than Thor expected, leading him to the Dark World and apparently betraying him, enabling them to get closer to destroying the Aether and killing Malekith. He also faked his own death right in front of his brother, only to return and take over Asgard with everyone being none the wiser. He had a knack for using his craftiness and intelligence in a fight, and tended to distract his opponent from his true intentions by feigning outright violence and rage and then wiping out his opponent with an application of vicious cunning.

Weapons

In battle, Loki uses throwing knives, which glow when in use, to injure his enemies, while he also proficient with a dagger or spear. His throwing blades flashed light when in use, similar to other Asgardian weapons.

Loki used a special staff that was exceedingly powerful. He was able to use it as a means of energy projection of a powerful blue laser blast which was powerful enough to kill several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Loki also used the staff to put people under his mind control and even stabbed Agent Coulson through his torse and heart with the blade. It is revealed that the Mind Stone was hidden within the staff, which allowed for the user to take over people's minds by tapping the blade against someone's chest.

Behind the scenes

Hiddleston had to go through a strict diet since Branagh wanted Loki "to have a lean and hungry look".

Hiddleston took inspiration from Peter O'Toole's interpretations from The Lion in Winter and Lawrence of Arabia.

During filming of Thor: The Dark World, Tom Hiddleston wore a Captain America suit and did an impression of Chris Evans. Evans later showed up on set and shot his cameo, imitating Hiddleston's impression.

Trivia

Loki is based on the god of mischief in Norse mythology. In the myths and legends circulating Loki, he was not adopted by Odin and his biological father was the giant Farbauti and Laufey was his mother. These concepts were invented by co-creator Stan Lee and Jack Kirby out of creative liberty.

In the comics, Loki never meets his biological father after being adopted by Odin, while in the movie he even allies and eventually betrays him.

At the end of Thor, Loki looking at the Cosmic Cube and deceiving Nick Fury is a hint to the comics continuity, in which he's the villain to stop which The Avengers assembled for the first time.

Loki was the main antagonist in Thor and The Avengers.

Loki is the first villain to appear in more than one movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has appeared in Thor, The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World.

Loki's robes bear more resemblance to the more medieval-looking version of the character in the Ultimate Comics universe than the more familiar spandex-wearing, jester-like character of the mainstream Marvel Universe. Like the Ultimate incarnation, he wears dark green robes and has dark, long hair while still retaining the traditional horned helmet.

Loki, a Frost Giant, was shown to be resistant to both bullets and blasts of Odinforce. However, Frost Giants are seen disintegrated by Odinforce and Asgardians, presumably more durable than Frost Giants, use protection against bullets. Whether Loki has above average durability, even for his standards, is debatable but may be because of his magic or a deformity related to his stature being short for a Frost Giant.